Idenity Theft Can Happen To Anyone

SunflogunActive Member

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Some people use FB as a depository for pictures, but that is extremely dangerous because when you share too much anyone can steal those pictures and make a fake profile, so we should be very careful with that.

JoanMcWenchActive Member

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Because of the issue concerning Target & their site being hacked I was offered a free Identity Protection service that I'm still using today. It's helpful to see whether or not there are debts connected to my name or whether my social is being used elsewhere. Also gives you a credit score. Bonus.

SunflogunActive Member

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OK Joan, would you mind explaining a little further what do you mean by that you were offered a free Identity Protection service? What service is that and does it protect your identity? Seems something really interesting!

HunkyDoireMember

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Yes, I concur, identity theft CAN happen to anyone ...my husband and I both have pretty poor credit scores, and we are on social security disability. Yet, one month, we did not get the electronic transfer of his SSDI payment...when we called and tracked it down, we had found that somehow his payment had been transferred to ANOTHER account - somewhere out of state! How does this even happen? Was the question that was on our minds. We changed all of the settings on his account so they would have to verify with HIM before doing this again. Eventually we did get reimbursed, but it took about a month and MANY contacts to social security, a lot of paperwork, and a lot of time spent on the phone. Be careful everyone and keep all of your privacy settings on lockdown!

radziActive Member

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Sunflogun said:

OK Joan, would you mind explaining a little further what do you mean by that you were offered a free Identity Protection service? What service is that and does it protect your identity? Seems something really interesting!

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I don't think you actually need a service, you just need steps to follow, most importantly don't give your information to people you don't trust.

DrRipleyExpert

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I don't really do much other than to be very careful with what I sign up for and how I handle my information online and offline as well. From what I understand I think a lot of the times identity theft happens by people acquiring sheets of paper with all of your information on it such as billions statements and shipping receipts, so I tend to dispose of those as carefully as I can. Also, whenever I connect to a public wifi I make sure I'm only using devices that don't have anything that can be used to steal from me. It's not too necessary I have to admit but it's best to keep safe I think.

SunflogunActive Member

I don't think you actually need a service, you just need steps to follow, most importantly don't give your information to people you don't trust.

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That sounded too formal for me, that is why I wanted to know more. These days there are already quite a few ways with which we can navigate anonymously, but to be honest we do get in trouble when we click in the wrong places. Adblock is a good help regarding that.

ZyniWell-Known Member

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radzi said:

I'm a person who doesn't have Facebook and is loving life without it. In fact, I didn't have any social media account in years and it's been really comfortable without it because my mind is at peace and no information about me can be known, I'm anonymous on the internet.

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Nobody is truly anonymous on the Internet. There is no privacy any more.

As for apps on phones, try reading the small print sometime. You might just be amazed at the permissions you're giving when you click accept without reading the terms. Many apps are unbelievably intrusive and you may be giving them permission to get online, use your camera, turn on your phone when it's off, share your info, and more. I was appalled when my husband started reading off the crap they wanted from some basic app. I don't really do apps because of this.

SunflogunActive Member

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These days we have already quite a few ways to maintain our privacy considering we are informed. At the same time, a simple picture uploaded on our FB can tell everyone our location if we don't turn tracking off, so that is disturbing too.

radziActive Member

SunflogunActive Member

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Once I realized that my location could be accessed by literally anyone, I turn the tracking possibility off whenever I don't need it, what means most of the time except if I am using GPS. It's really easy to do, just one click away.

radziActive Member

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@Sunflogun Absolutely. I realized that as well and I just stay away from using these things because technology can be deadly as well. I realize that one day I was so close to having my identity being stolen because I was trying to get a bargain that was unbelievable online, I would be careful next time as to not believe everything, at least something that sounds too good to be true.

SunflogunActive Member

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Yes, those unbelievable bargains can be our death!! No one gives us anything for free, so if we see something that is too good to be, it's most likely because it is. There are skilled people that build pages with the sole aim to deceive...!

radziActive Member

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Sunflogun said:

Yes, those unbelievable bargains can be our death!! No one gives us anything for free, so if we see something that is too good to be, it's most likely because it is. There are skilled people that build pages with the sole aim to deceive...!

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I've seen it all over the internet and I've been really interested to research this matter as it was really important and a lot of people abuse the gullibility of certain people. I think that there are genuine bargains but they are done in a way in which the people that are doing it are profiting anyway.

SunflogunActive Member

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I don't know about that radzi, if someone if offering us a real bargain, what's in for them? I feel that we can get good deals, but there are some pages that by the simple fact that we look at them we know they mean trouble as they say "offer" everywhere and I really don't believe in that.

OnionmanActive Member

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I probably not doing enough, to be honest! We all have a lot of information out there that can fall into the hands of those with less scrupulous intentions. When I remember I do make an effort to shred statements and other forms of physical proof that I'm throwing away. But online I haven't really conducted much of an audit as to what information is out there and what I should be doing to restrict its availability to others.

PatWell-Known Member

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One of the things you want to check to is change of address forms sent to the post office in your name that you did not request. The data theft can have your mail coming to them without you knowing it which would allow them to open new accounts. Some of these thieves have taken children social security numbers and run up bills for kids as young as 6 years old. If you are concerned about your childs SS# do not pull a credit report, pulling a credit report opens the credit and can be used easier.

radziActive Member

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Sunflogun said:

I don't know about that radzi, if someone if offering us a real bargain, what's in for them? I feel that we can get good deals, but there are some pages that by the simple fact that we look at them we know they mean trouble as they say "offer" everywhere and I really don't believe in that.

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Scepticism sometimes is very healthy like you have there. I know of bargains in which the people selling could have profit. There are systems in which they can actually offer people a service that costs a certain amount of money, they would indirectly profit from the buyer through advertisements or a developed system in which they earn indirectly from other supporters. I would also say quantity matters a lot for the price of a product. If there is a huge quantity being sold, the prices would go down so that the profits go higher due to the amount of people buying.

SunflogunActive Member

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Services that do offer real bargains are the travelling ones, but that is understandable because they buy in bulk and manage to make better prices. As for our identity safety, I think most people don't even consider it because if we did we could take some simple steps to protect ourselves.